A number of stations...such as Sea Tac...are running ten degrees above yesterday (Sea Tac got to 86 yesterday). The profiler at San Point (Seattle) shows easterly flow aloft and temperatures of roughly 6 C (11F) warmer than yesterday (see plot)
So head for the water if you want to be cool. A good place...the Oregon coast. Stratus and southerly winds have pushed northward up the coast behind the thermal trough, which now is over western Washington (see graphic).
Big contrasts in temps along the Oregon coast (see below)...50s south and near 70F at the WA border at 9 AM...
I clicked on your visable pic and the first thing that caught my eye was it looked like mt St. Helens had erupted. But I can't find any report of activity.
ReplyDeletehey folks - I'm putting this request here because I know so many of us are photogs and have a love of the scenery of our area & it's conditions.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone take an image of the Olympics Wildfire from Alki tonight? The smoke plume was...dare I say nuclear looking and I didn't have my camera.
I know someone who would be jonesing to seeing this and any shots, amateur or otherwise would be so appreciated!
Oh and yea, what a temp today! Thanks for all the info Cliff, I did stock up on the icecream =)
Jessica: The West Seattle Blog has a couple of smoke plume pictures of the Hopper fire.
ReplyDelete@Jessica - there's a couple good pix at http://westseattleblog.com/2010/08/smoke-over-the-olympics-new-forest-fire-visible-from-west-seattle
ReplyDeletesmokejumper, it appears that was volcanic dust being blown westward from the Mt St Helens crater by the strong offshore easterly winds.
ReplyDeleteSee this article:
http://www.columbian.com/news/2010/aug/15/dry-heat-blows-in-but-should-blow-back-out-soon/
Now is the time of year when I couldn't stand living in the far west. It's too dry, and there's too little action. I know you tend to get mostly dry base Thunderstorms off the western monsoons.
ReplyDeleteThe longwave pattern is about to shift. I am not sure, but I think a warming trend is in the cards for you. I'm on the far opposite corner of the country from you. The NAO is about to go negative, which usually makes things warmer for the western US, cooler for the upper mid-west, and warmer in New England. Negative NAO also prevents Atlantic hurricanes from early recurvature, if I recall correctly.
It just hit 100F in Duvall, WA... projections for how long this heat wave will last?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering how it's possible to have temperatures in the 80s and 90s one day (in August) and in the 60s two days later while it is still sunny! Please explain what makes such a big difference on clear sunny summer days.
ReplyDeleteI spent the weekend at Cape Disappointment State Park. I left Portland on Saturday morning. I could tell it was going to be a baking hot day because it was warming up very quickly all morning.
ReplyDeleteThe weather was hot even when Astoria was across the river from me at about 2pm. But I could see a bank of fog just to the west. It was like flipping a switch when I entered the marine air. The wind was blowing from the south, classic alongshore surge pattern.
Walking on the roads of the Cape Disappointment campground in bare feet was a strange experience. The air was foggy and cool, yet the pavement was very warm. The surge had apparently preceded me by only an hour or so, and there had been enough sun and heat to warm up the ground before I got there.
Thanks for the suggestions JayDee & Ron - just what I was looking for. Sometimes I forget what a great resource that blog can be.
ReplyDeleteWe escaped to Ocean Shores yesterday, where it was foggy and about 70 degrees. The sand was very warm, from the day before I assume, so altogether it was quite pleasant! Now I'm ready for a cool-down here...it's 88 in our living room, sheesh!
ReplyDelete